Press Release: October 19, 2009
National Archives at Kansas City
Author Marilyn Holt to discuss The Orphan Trains: Placing Out in America
For More Information Contact:
Kimberlee Ried
(816) 268-8000
Kansas City, (MO)…The National Archives at Kansas City will host author Marilyn Holt at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 28, for a discussion of The Orphan Trains: Placing Out in America. Holt will be available to sign copies of her book after the discussion. A 6:00 p.m. reception will precede the event. The National Archives at Kansas City is located at 400 West Pershing Road, Kansas City, MO.
Between 1850-1930, in an attempt to find homes for the urban poor, an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 east coast children emigrated and resettled westward through "placing out" on Orphan Trains. Holt investigates the creation and demise of the "placing out" system. Through the use of oral histories, institutional records, and newspaper accounts Holt discusses the children’s emigration experience.
Holt received her master’s degree in history from the University of Illinois. She has been the director of publications for the Kansas State Historical Society and consultant for PBS documentaries. She teaches summer workshops for Emporia State University and is a member of the Kansas Humanities Speakers Bureau.
Copies of The Orphan Trains: Placing Out in America will be available for purchase at The Kansas City Store at the National Archives. For more information or to make a reservation call 816-268-8010 or register by e-mailing: kansascity.educate@nara.gov.
The National Archives at Kansas City is one of 13 facilities nationwide where the public has access to Federal archival records. It is home to more than 50,000 cubic feet of historical records dating from the 1820s to the 1990s created or received by nearly 100 Federal agencies. Serving the Central Plains Region, the archives holds records from the states of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The facility is located at 400 West Pershing Road, Kansas City, MO 64108. The National Archives at Kansas City is open Tuesday–Saturday 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. for exhibits viewing and Tuesday–Saturday from 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. for research.
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NREA 10–03
